Machine for preparing toast, toasted sandwiches, baked waffles, and the like



Feb., l2, '19.295

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Feb. l2, 1929. 1,701,677

F E HUMMEL ETAL MACHINE Fon'PnPAiuN' ToAsT, ToAsTEn sANDwIcHEs,

BAKED wAFFLEs, AND THE LIKE Original Filed Jan. 6, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 2A Fred mmel. y 7o/z n ffaelz,

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Patented Feb. l2, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK E.` HUMMEL AND JOHN J'. NOETH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MACHINE Fon. PREPARING ToAsT, 'roAsTED sANDwIcnns, BAKED WAFFLES, AND

THE LIKE.

Application led January 6, 1925, Serial No. 909. Renewed July 2, 1928.

'lhis invention relates to heating devices of thc type used inrestaurants, lunch rooms and homes for the toasting of bread, sandwichesand the like, and its object is to provide a machine for this purposewhich is self-contained and compact.

Another object of the invention is to provide a machine of this kind towhich a. special attachment may be applied to adapt it for the baking ofwaiiles.

A further object of the invention is to so design the heating element ofthe machine as to heat both sides of the bread slice, sandwich or 'waiieconcurrently, thereby saving time in that connection. r.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a machine of thistype which operates by a simple, automatic clockwork mechanism, which iseasily controlled and dependable.

Another object of the invention is to design it as a. portable andindependent machine, ready for operating at any place where electricityis available.

lVith these objects in view, and any others which may suggest themselvesfrom the description and claims to follow, reference is had to theaccompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which YFigure 1 is an elevation of the novel machine, partly broken away;

Fig. 2 is a plan view, also partly in section;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of an escapement mechanism detail; and yFig. 7 is a sectional detail on the line 7--7 of Fig. 2.

lReferring specifically to the drawings, 10 denotes the housing of themachine, the same being made of heavy sheet metal and having a iaredbase 11. The latter is separated from the casing by a partition12. Forthe present purpose the housing is rectangular in form-- ing thetoasting or heating action. However, when the contents areto be removedor replaced, the tray is adapted to be 'lifted to a high position-perdotted lines in Fig. 3-to facilitate access thereto. This action isaccomplished by the following arrangement: The tray 14 is formed withupward bends 14b on opposite sides, and the ends of these are attachedby screws 14 to a pair of vertical gearracks 15. These are droppedthrough slot-s 16 1n a top rim 17 connecting the two casing walls to lienext outside the inner wall 13 in a position to slide in vertical guides18 carried 'by the same. One edge of each rack 15 is cut with gearteeth, and the corresponding guide 18 is cut away tliereat to permit themeshing with the rack of a gear sector 19 which is pivoted to the innerwall as indicated at 20. The sweep of the two gear sectors 19, thereforeoperates the racks 15, the sectors themselves being raised by a pair ofside hars 21. These are pivoted at one end to a common shaft 22 and areslotted intermediately at 23 to receive a wrist-pin 2 4 from each gearsector 19. The side bars are united at the front to form a crosspiece21a which is used as an abutment to depress the side bars against thetension of a coil spring 25 dependin from the wall 13 to each bar. Theactuator inducing this action is a finger piece 26 handjly located atthe front of the machine, this finger piece passing through a verticalslot 27 in the front wall ofv the Aouter housing 10-which may bereinforced by a plate 10and seating on the crosspiece 21 as indicated inFig. 3. The iinger piece has a depending hook bar 28 which has for oneof its objects to steady the motion of the ngerpiece in the slot 27through the co-operationof guide ribs 29 insdethe frontal housing wall.The tendency of the tray 14 is, due to the springs 25, to rise to thehigh position mentioned, but during the heating opera.-

Vtion the tray is held down through the agency of the hook bar 28, aswill be later explain For heating-purposes while the tray is in loweredposition, a stationary electrical heating.

.element 30 is positioned under the tray, this the contents of the tray.A slice of bread placed in the latter would thus receive heat on bothsides at the same time. A top frame 31 is provided with a heatingelement 31a identical with that under the tray-and therefore not shownin detail-such top frame having a frontal knob y31b whereby it may bemanually raised from the low, full-line position in Fig. 1 to the high,dotted-line position of Fig. 3. The object of raising the top frame inthis manner is to create an opening for the insertion of a slice ofbread of any given thickness upon the tray; and the high position of theframe as evident in Fig. 3 makes sufficient room for the insertion ofthe average sandwich, whereby the novel machine may be readily adaptedto the modern custom of toasting sandwiches as a whole to improve theflavor of the food therein as well as cause such flavor to permeate thebread as it is toasted.

'The heating elements 30 and 31 are supplied by a current wire 32leading from a suitable tap and provided with a switch 32d and branches32a and 32", leading to the respective elements. Since the element isstationary, the branch 32a' is short, but the branch 32b is of necessityformed with an intermediate coil 32c to allow for the rise of theelement 31a as described.

The top frame 31 is carried by two vertical bars 33 inside the rearcorners of the housing, being hingedlyconnected at 33a to such bars toalso permitthe frame to be swung up and back out of the way preparatoryto the insertion or removal of a sandwich or brea'd slice. The bars 33and the frame 31 are made with shoulder stops 33b and 31, respectively,to limit the drop of the frame to a horizontal limit and its upwardswing to a point beyond a lvertical position to assume a position ofrest. The electrical current feed branch 32b will be 'of stranded wirecord,

` which is very flexible and will not be affected by the rising orswinging action of the top frame 31. Each of the bars 33 descendsthrough the top rim 17 of the housing to form a ,rectangular frame 33cadapted to slide vertically along the rear inner wall 13 between a sideange 13 thereof and the contiguous rack-bar guide 18, the sliding actionbeing facilitated by rolls 33 carried by /the side pieces of the frame33. The assembly of the bars 33 is not attached to any other mechanism,and is therefore free to drop of its weight until each frame 33c restson a narrow shelf 34 supported by two vertical` coil springs 35. Thelatter rest on the floor 11a of the base 11, and their tendency isexpansive whereby to bear upon the shelf 34 when released from thecompressed condition shown in Fig. 3. The upper ends ofthe springs 35are secured to pins 35a descending from the shelf into them forguidance, and the partition 12 is made with openings 12av to let thesprings freely expand through them when released. A branch 21b of eachof the side bars 21 is'dropped to its proximate shelf 34 to bear down onthesame when the side bars 'are depressed and to permit the shelf tofollow when these are released. To avoid friction and binding, thebranches 21b are equipped with rollers 21c at the point of con- -tactwith the respective shelves 34. The controls for and they function ofthe shelves 34 and springs 35 will be explained presently. In order thattheparts yet to be described may, in conjunction with those already made'by an external gear 36a. The latter is operated by a sector gear 37pivoted at 38 on the roof 39 of the motor and having a lever eX- tension40 beyond the pivot. Full lines in Fig. 4 indicate that the sector gear37 is` in a position where it has fully wound the motor; and finelydotted lines indicate the opposite extreme.

The lever extension 40 of the sector gear 37 drops to the oor of thebase 11 and passes through a wide slot 41 in the front wall of the sameto be fashioned into a handle 42. The lever is designed to swing throughthis slot from its right-hand end toward the lefthand lend when to windthe motor, the sweep being limited by a stop 43. This stop is a lugpositioned laterally of the lever extension 40 between the floor of thebase 11 and a seg: ment-shaped ledge 44 forming the roof of the slot 41.The base Hoor isut to match the contour of the ledge, and both are cutwith a series of registering notches-45 into a selected lease it from agiven pair of notches 45 and moved to a different pair, whereby thesweep of the lever extension 40 and in turn the extent of winding themotor are regulated. With the segment-ledge 44 graduated to correlategiven notches with periods of time for the toasting of the food it willbe seen that the stop 43 will serve as a simple indicator to limit theactivity of the motor mechanisln to any predetermined period of time.

The automatic connection between the motor and the operating mechanismfor the tray 14 will now be described. The hook bar 28 previouslyconsidered as allied with the tray actuator descends into the base 11,and is cut with a side notch 28a before it is tapered to form its lowerextremity. Adjacent to the latter the frontal base wall carries asliding latch bolt 50 advanced by a spring 51 to seat in the notch 28aof the hook bar 28 and thus hold the latter down. The latch bolt has aside pin 52 in the path of a finger 53 carried by the sector gear 37whereby the travel of the latter to finely-dotted position of Figure 4will cause the finger 53 to strike the pin 52,-

thus backing t-he latch bolt 50, and wipe past the pin, as alsoindicated by finely-dotted lines. The finger 53 has a knuckle-jointpivot 54, maintained by a leaf spring 55, whereby the finger may breakon the return sweep to clear the pin 52. y

To operate the device to the extent described, the top-frame 31 and thetray 14 must initially be in elevatedr position, the handle 42 of thelever extension 40 at the beginning of its stroke, and the stop 43 setat a point corresponding to the number of minutes desired for thetoasting operation. The

manner in which the top frame 31, the tray 14` and the handle 42 mayattain the initial positions indicated will presently become evident,but let it be now assumed that these parts are in such positions.Therefore, to start, the top frame 31 is swung up by means of its knob31", and a slice of bread or a sandwich deposited in the tray 14. Thetop frame is now swung back to normal position, which will as yet be aconsiderable space above the contents of the tray 14. The finger piece26 is now depressed all theway down, this action causing the hook bar 28to first crowd and then receive the latch bolt 50 in its notch28a,whereby said hook bar is caught and the finger piece 26 held down. Thedescent of the finger piece, acting through the crosspiece 21a and theside bai-S21, causes the gear sectors 19 to depress the gear racks 15,thereby lowering the tray 14 to a position immediately over the heatingelement 30. The downward movement of the side bars 21 also acts, throughthe branches 21b thereof, to depress the shelves 34 to lowermostposition-against the tension of the supporting springs 35 whereby theassembly of the top-frame 31, bars 33 and their frames 33c is free todrop of its weight until the `top fra-me rests on the bread slice orsandwich in the tray. The machine is thus self-adjusting to bread slicesor sandwiches of any height within customary limits. The contents of thetray are now also covered by the heating element 31a and in position tobe toasted. The handle 42 for the winding of the spring motor 36 isdrawn to the left until it abuts the stop 43, this action'not affectingthe hold of the latch bolt 50 on the hook bar 28, since the finger 53slips by the bolt pin 52 on the winding stroke,as previously indicated.When the handle 42 is released it immediately starts on its returnstroke, dueto the unwinding of the spring.

The return stroke is, however, regulated by the effect of a governor '1on the escapement 65 of the spring motor, whereby the return occurs at apredetermined rate. This rate is of course calculated in minutes toagree with the readings on the ledge 44, the governor being adjusteduntil the proper retarding effect is had on the eseapement. WVhen thehan dle 42 has returned to its point of origin the finger 53 will haveimpinged on the latch bolt 50 to release the vertical hook bar. Thelatter will immediately rise due to the pull of the springs 3() on t-heparts 21, 21, causing a reversal of the action with respect to the gearsector 10 and gear racks 15, whereby the tray 14 is raised to itsinitial position, within handy reach for the removal of its contents. Atthe same time, the rise of the side bars 21 and their branches 21brelieves the shelves 34 whereby the supporting springs 35 thereof boostthem, raising the assembly of 'the bars 33, top frame 31, etc.sufi'iciently for the uncovering and removal of the tray contents. Thisboosting action is, however, made to occur a trifie late by theemployment of an auxiliary mechanism which functions as follows inconnection with the shelves 34: It will be recalled that the depressionof the finger piece 26 to put the machine in action caused the shelves34 to be depressed in turnv by the wheeled sidebar branches 21h tolowermost position against the tension of the supto turn on the stud.The latch-bolt shanks 56a y are slidable in bearing blocks 59 mounted onthe partition, and outwardly urged by springs 56b coiled aboutsuchShanks. The inner ends of the latter are connected to the disk `57 bypivoted links'60. Near its periphery the disk carries a pin 61 whichdepends through an arcuate slot 62 in the partition 12 to a -pointwithin the sweep of a radial finger 63 carried by the shaft- 36" of thespring motor 36. Now, the winding capacity of the motor is fixed at thesource to limit the maximum sweepof the hand lever 42, such capacitybeing represented by nearly a full revolution of the motor shaft 36h, asdetermined by the travel of the radial finger 63 from and around to ascrew 64 depending from the clockworkframe roof as an abutment, or boththe origin and goal for such finger 63 asit moves around in the windingand unwinding directions. Now, as the finger intercepts the dependingpin 61 of the eccentric disk 57 at a point near the end of its returntravel it impinges The movement undergone by the pin 61 carries theeccentric disk57 laterally a short space, drawing on the links 60 toretract the latch bolts 56 and release the shelves 34 for completeboosting action of the springs 35.

As a result of the above actions, the tray 14 bearing the bread slice orsandwich receives the first lifting impulse, whereby it lifts thetop-frame 31 as well, since the latter rests of its weight on the traycontents. The

combined movement of the tray and top frame t-hus serves to keep thetray contents from being tossed lout of place and also helps to conservethe heat accumulated thereby. However, as soon as the tray 14 has had arising start, the releasing action of the latchbolts 56 upon the shelves34 allows the power of the springs 35 to come to the aid of the risingsupports 33c of the top frame 31 for a more assured ascent thereof tothe position denoted by dotted lines in Fig. 3.

The heating unit is of course turned on and off autoamtically insynchronism with the major operations described above, and the controlsinvolved in that connection will now As is noted, the elect-ric receiveattention. switch 32d is located in proximityto the spring motor 36, andhas a roundedlever 32e which swings laterally in one or the otherdirection to the on7 or off position. This type of switch is popularlyknown and employed, and its lever requires but a partial urge to causeit to swing over, the switch vhaving a spring which takes up andcompletes the stroke of the lever. This property of the switch isutilized by designing the radial linger 63 of the spring motor shaft 36btoimpinge upon and wipe by the switch lever 32e as it approaches orleaves its goal, per previous explanation.

Where the operation of the appliance h as been started as described, butmust be suddenly interrupted due to a mistake, a change in the order orsome unexpected development, a device is provided to immediately releasethe spring motor by the simple push of a button. It will be noted thatthe escapement 65 of the spring motor is carried by a spindle 66supported by a frame .67 pivoted on a post 68. A floor spring 69normally presses the frame so as to urge the escapement against itswheel 65a. The frame 67 has an extension 70 beyond its pivot post 68 towhich is linked a push rod 71, headed by a button 7 2 outside the casing10 of the appliance at the right. It will be obvious that pressureon'the button 72 will cause the escapement to swing away from its wheel65, permitting the summary release of the spring and in turn therestoration of the parts to initial position by means already Vfamiliar.This summary release device is, due to its quick action, also connectedto the ordinary mechanism, to be operated by the switch lever 32. Asnoted in Figs. 4 and 5, a link 73 runs from the switch lever to a 76along which lies an upward bend 77 of astein 7 7a leading from theextension 70 of the escapement frame 67, a slot 78 being cut 1n saidroof to permit the entry and free action of the bend 77. Now, when theswitch lever 32 swings from the present (on) position to the offposition, it also swings the lever 74, whereby the latter impinges thebend 77, duplicating the effect of the emergency button 72 on theextension 70 and the parts allied therewith.

The governor 56 is a weighted stem carricd by the escapement 65, andwhen the latter recedes as last explained, the wei ht of the governorwill advance into a anged check-plate 79, which will confine it toprevent erratic vibration thereof with possible harm to the delicate.escapement when the spring motor is suddenly caused to unwind asdescribed.

As-noted in Fig. 2, the frontal edge of the tray 14 is not flanged butplain, in order that the toast or toasted sandwich may be slid olf thetray when wanted, without danger of the fingers touching the hot tray orthe necessity of using an implement to remove the contents thereof. Whenelevated,` the tray will of course be even with or above the top of thehousing to facilitate loading or unloading as contemplated. l

It will be Seen that the novel appliance though small, compact andreadily portable, performs automatically what has heretofore requiredpersonal attention, some skill, and a considerable loss of time. Infact, the treatment of the contents is superior to the customarytoasting process, due to the oven-like housing in which the heat isuniformly distributed. Also, while appliances in general use toast butone side of the bread or sandwich at a time, the present appliancetreats both sides at the same time, effecting a considerable saving oftime, and doing away with task of turning and the necessity of watchingf or the proper time to turn. The automatic time-controlled feature ofour appliance assures the toasting of the contents only to a desireddegree, as readily `regulated by the initial setting at the front of themachine, therebyrprecluding burning. In this connection, our elevatingmechanism is designed to remove the toast or toasted sanding elements atthe proper time, so that residual heat in such elements may notunnecsarily prolong the process with possible det- .rimental effect.Further, our machine is pewich from the proximity of the electricheatimpregnation of the toast with the juices, va-

pors or aroma of the sandwich contents. D ue to the weight of thetop-frame, the bread shce or sandwich is held in iiat position,facilitating even toasting and preventing warping.

tendencies.

Vith the design and operating scheme of the novel toasting machine inmind, the substitution of a set of wafile irons for the toasting unit iseasily conceivable, preferably as an auxiliary attachment for use whenthe 0ccasion demands; and, since this modification may be made withoutthe exercise of invention by one skilled in the art, it is not deemednecessary to illustrate it in the accompanying drawings or to dwell onit in detail.

1. Atoasting machine for a bread slice, sandwich or like food articlecomprising a support to seat such article in substantially horizontalposition, a heating element efl'ective toward the bottom of the article,another heating element effective toward the vtop of the same, automaticmeans Jfor elevat- -ing said support and latter mentioned heatingelement at relative rates of motion to locate the article remotely fromthe heating elements, and a hinge support for the upper heating elementwhereby it lmay be swung back to clear the approach to the article.

2. An automatic food-article heating machine comprising a housinganarticle support in the latter, a fixed heating element under thesupport, a movable heating element over the latter, means for elevatingthe support to expose the article thereon above the housing, anautomatic control for such means, a manual actuator and control for thelowering of the support and a regulator for such automatic control.

3. An automatic food-article heating machine comprising a housing, anarticle support in the latter, a fixed heating element under thesupport, a movablevheating element over the latter, means for elevatingthe 'support to expose the article thereon above the housing, means forelevating said movable heating element, an automatic control ifor cachof'said elevating means, a manual actuator and control for the loweringof the support, and a regulator for such automatic control.

4. An automatic food-article heating machine comprising a housing, anarticle support in the latter, a gearing to lower or raise said support,a manually operated push rod to actuate said gearing for the loweringaction, a latch to hold the push rod in advanced position, a motorgearing adapted to trip said latch for the release of the push rod,automatic means to induce the rise of the support in such event, aregulator for such motor gearing, a stationary heatingelement under thesupport, a movable heating element above the same a gearing to elevatethe movable heating element and a control carried by said motor gearingwhereby to induce the operation of said elevating caring.

5. An automatic food-artic e heating machine comprising a housing, anarticle support in the latter, a fixed heating element under thesupport, a movable heating element over the latter, an automaticgea-ring to elevate lthe support, an automatic gearing to elevate themovable heating element, a manual control for the two gearings, a motoractuator to release the saine for. action, and a regulator for suchmotor actuator.

6. An automatic food-article heating machine comprising a housing, anarticle support in the latter, a fixed heating element under thesupport, a movable heating element Vover the latter, an automaticgearing to elevate the support, an automatic gearing 'to elevate themovable heating element, a

push rod manually depressible to cause said gear-ings to remaininactive, a motor, latch devices operable by said motor to trip saidpush rod and said second-mentioned gearing respectively whereby torelease both gearings for action, and a regulator for said motor.

7 An automatic food-article heating machine comprising a housing, anarticle support in the latter, a fixed heating element under thesupport, a movable heating element over the latter, an automatic gearingto elevate the support, an automatic gearing to elevate the movableheating element, a push rod manually depressible to cause said gearingsto remain inactive, a motor, latch devices operable by said motor totrip said push rod and said second-mentioned gearing respectivelywhereby to release both gearings for actionand a regulator forsaidmotor, the

latch device correspondingx to the secondmentioned caring being timedindependently of the ot er latch device.

8. An automatic food-article heating machine comprising a housing, anarticle support in the latter, a fixed heating element under thesupport, a movable heating element over the latter, an automatic gearingto elevate the support, an automatic gearing to elevate the movableheating element, a push rod manually depressible to cause said gearingsto remain inactive, a motor, latch devices operable by said motor totrip said push rod and said second-mentioned gearing respectivelywhereby to release both gearings for action, a control switch for theheatover the latter, an automatic gearing to elevate the support, anautomatic gearing to elevate the movable heating element, a push rodmanually depressible to cause said gearings to remain inactive, a motor,latch devices operable by said motor to trip said push rod and saidsecond-mentioned gearing respectively whereby to release both gearingsfor action, a control switch for the heating elements, a motor-operatedlever to open or close such switch, and a regulator for said motor, thelatch device corresponding to the secondmentioned gearing being timed'independently of the other latch device.

l0. The combination With a food-article support and overhead heatinelement therefor held down under tension y a latch gearing of a releaserfor said latch gearing com-y prismg a spring motor, a Winding element, agearing driven in one direction b y the winding element and in theopposite direction by the unwinding of the motor, a variable stop tolimit the progress of the winding element, a governor to limit theunwinding action of the motor to a predetermined rate, a linger carriedby the second-mentioned gearing to trip the latch gearing during the un-Winding course, a control switch for said adapted to seat of its weighton the food arheating element, and a lever carried bythe saidsecond-mentioned gearing to close such switch duringthe winding courseand open the same during the unwinding course.

11. A toasting machine for a bread slice, sandwich or like food articlecomprising a support to seat such article in substantially horizontalposition, a. fixed heating element under such support, an upper heatingelement ticle, and having an overhanging section, a spring-boostedplatform below said overhanging section, a depressor for such platformto ermit the free fall of said overhangi ing section as limited by theheight of the food article on the support, a latch to lock the platformin depressed position, and means to trip said latch whereby the platformmay be boosted to lift the upper heating element to a position highabove said food article.

y 12. Atoasting machine for a bread slice, sandwich`or like food articlecomprising a support to seat such article in substantially horizontalposition, a fixed heating element under such support, an upper heatingelement adapted to seat of its wei ht on the food article, and having anover anging section, a spring-boosted platform below said overhangingsection, a depressor for such platform to permit the free fall of saidoverhanging section as limited by the height of the food article on thesupport, a latch to lock the platform in depressed position, a manuallywound spring motor, and a lever carried by the latter to trip said latchduring the unwinding course of the motor whereby the platform may beboosted to lift the upper heating element to a position high above saidfood article.

13. A toasting machine for a bread slice, sandwich or like food articlecomprising a support to seat such article in substantially horizontalposition, a fixed heating element under such support, an upper heatingelement adapted to seat of its weight on the food article, and having anoverhanging section, a spring-boosted platform below said overhangingsection, a depressor for such platform to permit the free fall of saidoverhanging section as limited by the height of the food article on thesupport, a latch to lock the platform in depressed position, a manuallywound spring motor, a lever carried 'by the latter to trip said latchduring the unwinding course of the motor whereby the platform may beboosted to lift the upper heating element to a position high above saidfood article, and a Variable stop to limit the progress of the windingelement.

In testimony whereof We aiiix our signatures.

FREDERICK E. HUMMEL. JOHN J. NoE'rH.

